Career Opportunities in Acting and Modeling

Career Opportunities in Acting and Modeling

Getting into films and Modeling – the two careers that run on pure talent – have always been an average person’s dream. In India, thanks to the aura of Bollywood and stardoms of Amitabh Bachchan and the likes, films are an indispensable part of life.

Indian film industry reached overall revenues of $1.86 billion (Rs 93 billion) in 2011. This is projected to rise to $3 billion (Rs 150 billion) in 2016.

While a serious career in modeling does require the right age, good looks and a fit body, the same may not be true for acting as we have examples such as Boman Irani and Nawazuddin Siddhiqui. However supermodels like Nayonkia Chatterjee, Milind Soman, and Carol Gracias etc have proved that modeling can be a long-term career where good looks alone will not help you survive.

Personality traits

While films and modeling are two different careers, most of their traits are common. They are:

Pleasing looks/presentability: As an entry point in a modeling and film career, you have to be presentable and photogenic. You must have a face that the camera loves. You should also have a fit body and a great figure to get you the first few assignments.

Acting skills/Emoting abilities: Both these careers sell on facial expressions. You should have skills of emoting feelings on screen.

Diction: For acting career, you will have to be someone who can speak clearly with the right rhythm and pronunciation. You must be well-versed with the language and know how to add feelings to words. Similar things are needed for models too since they interact closely with fashion designers, industrialists and sponsors.

Confidence: You just cannot survive in any of these two careers without confidence. You must believe in your talent and have the confidence to stand before audiences.

Courses in Modeling and acting

All you need is a 10+2 in any subject to get admission to modeling and acting institutes. There is absolutely no eligibility criterion or age factor. Most of these courses are diploma courses, a few institutes also offer a full-time bachelor’s or PG courses.

List of institutes offering Acting / Modeling courses

Name of Institute

Website

Film and Television Institute of India, Pune

www.ftiindia.com

The Barry John Acting studio, Mumbai

www.bjas.in

Subhash Ghai’s Whilstling Woods International, Mumbai

www.whistlingwoods.net

Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares, Mumbai

www.actorprepares.net

R K Films and Media Academy, New Delhi

www.rkfma.com

National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi

www.nsd.gov.in

AAFT, Noida

www.aaft.com

Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute, Mumbai

www.knkactinginstitute.com

Career prospects in acting and modeling

Theatre actors: All great actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi were once stage actors. It is really a great way to start a career in acting.

Fashion models: You can opt to become fashion models featured in magazines and newspapers. If you have acting skills too, you can also get television and Youtube ads.

Film/Television actors: With so many channels opening every day on Indian television and film directors opening up to experimental cinema, there is a dearth of good actors.

Reality stars: Keep an eye on reality shows, and you will find there is enough work in these shows. Many people who were a nobody before became well-known due to their appearances in reality shows.

Video Jockeys: Another career avenue open for models is becoming anchors or video jockey on television channels. Ayushman Khurana is one great example of model turned jockey turned successful actor.

Stand-up comedians: If you have a great sense of humour and a distinct style of delivering it, there is enough scope for you to become a stand-up comedian.

Character actors: If acting drives you more than stardom, you can become character actors who play supporting roles in films and serials.

Remuneration

Stage actors may get anywhere between Rs 1000 and Rs 10,000 per show. TV actors also begin with Rs 10,000 which can go on to Rs 1,00,000 per episode depending on your experience and the production house. A debut actor in a movie can get anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh per movie. Models get paid around Rs 5,000 per show in the beginning. And this can go up Rs 50,000 per show with more experience and success.

About Us

We are the educationists aiming to redefine the way of learning in India by creating assessments based on our rigorous research. We are like gardeners who prepare the best hybrid fruits with all the desired quality contents and later on distribute the precious seeds in form of unique test series.

Since 2004, Career Lift is focusing on learning by testing. It is said that in a classroom the lesson is taught first and then test is taken but in real life we face the test first and then learn lessons from it.